Casino operator Bally’s Corp. is insisting that Rhode Island’s impending indoor smoking “ban” to start in 2027 will cut into future profits, and it wants more money from the state to bolster its marketing efforts to offset the losses.
But some state officials are balking at Bally’s request despite Rhode Island’s outsized dependence on the company’s two casinos to generate revenue for the government. And others are questioning whether the limitations on smokers should be blamed for declines at the casinos.
Rhode Island has long helped pay for a portion of the casinos’ marketing costs, essentially treating it as an investment since the state gets a big cut of the revenue those promotions generate.
Now legislation is under consideration that would rewrite the state’s casino contracts with Bally’s to create a single, consolidated marketing program and change the reimbursement formulas for casino marketing costs.
Bally’s, a multibillion-dollar company based in Providence, has made a push for its approval.
Bally’s spokesperson Patti Doyle said the company estimates that the smoking ban – which will limit tobacco use to special enclosed lounges at Bally’s Twin River Lincoln Casino and Bally’s Tiverton Casino & Hotel – will cause annual revenue losses of between $30 million to $60 million, based on declines experienced at two Bally’s casinos in Delaware and Louisiana after smoking bans.
At the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce Legislative Luncheon on April 15, Marc A. Crisafulli, chairman of Bally’s Rhode Island’s board of directors, warned of the need to maintain strong revenue streams in the face of “significant headwinds” brought on by cross-border competition.
“We cannot afford this hit right now,” he said.
R.I. Lottery Director Mark A. Furcolo isn’t convinced the reimbursement changes are necessary.
In a letter to the House Finance Committee, Furcolo opposed the legislation, saying that the Lottery “does not support the proposed substantive changes which would increase the state’s reimbursement requirement by millions of dollars.”
As it stands, Bally’s spent $10.8 million on marketing for the two casinos last year and was reimbursed approximately $3.6 million, according to the R.I. Department of Revenue.
If the company spent up to the proposed new reimbursement cap this year, the state would have to reimburse it approximately $11 million in fiscal 2027 and $11.4 million in 2028, according to Lottery spokesperson Paul Grimaldi.
In both chambers, the legislation remains in committee. House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said, “The request from Bally’s will be considered as part of the budget process ... and won’t be finalized for several more weeks.”
Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi, D-Narragansett, believes the smoking ban argument is being used as an excuse to permanently shift more of the marketing burden to the state.
She noted that casinos in neighboring states do not allow smoking, including Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino, Encore Boston Harbor and Plainridge Park Casino.
And Tanzi said that despite the headlines, the 2025 law ending the casino exemption from an indoor smoking ban doesn’t amount to a total ban.
A floor amendment allowed pari-mutuel facilities to designate enclosed, separately ventilated smoking lounges “that will prevent the migration of smoke to nonsmoking areas.”
“They didn’t eliminate smoking,” Tanzi said. “They just created a new definition.”
